As war rages in Gaza and threatens to spread to Lebanon, Iraqi militant groups warn they are ready to enter the fray against Israel and the United States.
A field commander of the so-called Islamic Resistance in Iraq said there would be “escalation for escalation” in the event of a full-scale war in Lebanon.
The commander, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, said the Iran-backed group had already sent “experts and advisors” to Lebanon.
Iraqi political scientist Ali al-Baidar agreed that a major war between Israel and Lebanon’s Hezbollah, if it happens, “will not be limited to Lebanese territory”.
“In Iraq and in the region armed groups will enter into the confrontation,” he said, adding that they would want to show “their abilities, but also their loyalty” to their allies.
The alliance includes Lebanon’s Hezbollah, armed groups across Syria and Iraq, as well as Yemen’s Houthis.
In recent weeks, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has claimed responsibility for drone strikes against targets in Israel, labelling many of them “joint operations” with the Houthis.
‘Legitimate targets’
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq has previously shown its willingness to launch attacks.
Last winter, it carried out more than 175 rocket and drone strikes against US troops based in Iraq and Syria as part of an international anti-jihadist coalition.
On Sunday, the so-called Coordination of the Iraqi Resistance issued further threats against Israel and Israel’s top ally the United States.
Citing the threat of “total war against Lebanon”, it warned that “if the Zionists (Israelis) carry out their threats, the pace and scale of operations targeting them will intensify”.
It added that “the interests of the American enemy” in Iraq and around the region would also be “legitimate targets”.
The group includes the Hezbollah Brigades, Al-Nujaba and the Sayyed al-Shuhada Brigades, all of whom are under US sanctions.
In late January, a drone strike launched by Iraqi armed groups killed three US soldiers in a base just across the border in Jordan and provoked an armed response.
The US military responded with deadly strikes against pro-Iran factions and has vowed to retaliate if attacked again.
‘Common adversary’
Many of the Iraqi factions have fighters who are veterans of Iraq’s recent wars or have been deployed in the civil war in Syria.
Militants are based south of the capital Damascus, and “elite troops” are stationed in the Golan region near the Israeli-occupied sector, says the group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Iraq specialist Tamer Badawi said the importance of Iraqi groups’ “coordinated attacks” carried out with the Houthis “lies in their symbolism”.
Badawi, a doctoral student at Kent University, said any Iraqi intervention in Lebanon — whether by sending “fighters en masse” or just “advisors” — would “depend on Hezbollah’s warfare needs”.
Many analysts suggest Israel, Hezbollah and Iran do not want a costly full-scale war in Lebanon but caution about the potential for miscalculations that could escalate tensions dangerously.
Hezbollah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah recently tempered the zeal of his allies in Iraq, Syria and Yemen on the subject of sending their fighters to Lebanon.
Regarding “human resources”, Nasrallah said, “the resistance in Lebanon has numbers exceeding its needs and the imperatives of the front, even in the worst fighting conditions”.
With Ammar Karim
